Food-inspecting device.



H M. FOSTER. FOOD INSPECTING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 22, I914.

Patented Sept. 21, 1915.

w, kw J 5 1 quickly and carefully examine'the articles ,At

ing drawing and will be I so figures of the drawing.-

lOWlIlglS a specification.

.to the inspection of fruits and vegetables,'

Such a method necessarily is very inaccurate .specting I IUG'I-I M. FOSTER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y,

. FOOD-'INSPECTING DEVICE.-

1 154 5011' i Specification of Letters iatent.

Application filed October 22, 1914. Serial N 0. 868,027.

Referring to the drawing, the device is supported by the standard having across bar 10 and side-members meeting ata head 10".. In order to adjust the standard vertically it is provided with legs 11 having openings 12' engaged by pins'13 which pass through suitable openings in the standard 10. The head 10 is provided with a bearing .15 in which a shaft 15 is seated. A holder 18 is provided at its rear portion with a shaft 19 which acts as a pivot to a support 20, having'members 20*, 20 at right angles to each other and inclined members 20 at either side of the-support. The holder 18 is provided with a bottom 17 on which is arranged a plurality of slats 22 which are suitably spaced apart and which extend longitudinally of the bottom 17. Side-walls 23 and 24r-converge from the rear-portion 22 of the holder 18 to the.

To all whom it may concern: i

Be it known that I, HUGH M. FOSTER, a citizenof the United States of America, and resident of the borough of Manhattan, city and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Food-Inspecting Devices, of which the fol- This invention relates to inspectingde vices and more particularly to tnoseadapted and has for its object to provide an improved device, by theuse of which fruits and vegetables may be readily inspected.

Hitherto it has been customary for persons intrusted with the inspection of food supplies, as applies,'oranges, melons, lemons, potatoes, carrots, turnips, cabbages, beets, parsnips, and the like, which food supplies are delivered to institutions, like hQspitals, charitable organizations, Wholesale dealers, etc., to examine the supplies delivered to the institutions by taking one sack, or bag, or barrel, and examining the same and permitting such examination to represent the remaining quantities i delivered.

converging side portions 2'3' ai1d '24 serve "to guide the material in the holder 18 toward .the front portion 22 A'tthis front a hook25 and which gateis' adapted-to keep closed the front portion 22 and resembles therein the Well-known practice of examining. only the top portion of a 3 portion 22 -isuncovered and the material-in barrel or bag and judging therefrom thatthe remaining portion of the barrel or bagis j of the same quality. It is readilyseen that unscrupulous dealers can easily deceive persons buying goods in this manner, as for instance, in the delivery of a Wagon load, of'r ,and'the object of this curved portion 26 is potatoes, apples or the like, the examination' of one'barrel would not be conclusiie'as to. the, quality of theremaining barrels delivered. For this purpose, an improved in-- device has been devised by. me, the

use of which 'Will render it possible to very -an'd; into the spolit 30'. This spout 30 base 'reai-wardly extending curved portion 26 thrown out ofthe holder. 18-during movement of the holder. T he .spout-30 is proi vided with sharp'hooks 31' which are adapt- Inay be readilyhooked thereto.

its rear portion thehottom of the delivered to the institutions referred to in holder 18 hasfs ecure'd.thereto,. 'by suitable the presence of the person delivering, and

e person receiving, so that an entirelyfair and accurate examination may be had;

The invention is 'shownin the accompanymorejul ly described poin cutter; ythe hereinafter and finally claims. v i In the accompanying drawing, aside -view of my improved de 2 isaplan view thereof. v Y Similar characters} of reference' 'indicate and this lug-'36 is adapted to *be seated on a tooth 37 of a sprmg-leVerj -QLOhaving a hancorresponding parts throu houtjthe various Patented Sept. 21, 1915.,

the holder IS-may pass through the opening which extends to the sides 27 and 28 and. to the outer edges of the inclined wings 75, 7 6,

ed to engage a bag or other container which rivets a rearward-i extending bracket '45 q the, rivets 35 to the bottom '1 of tli e-hol der 18' $3511.38 is inclined. to the. horizontal and acts: 7 as a rest for the bottom of the holder 18 i-r j' I w h i is ,lq eredaedj atsdther f front portion 22 'ofthe holder 18, and these' portion L22P1a gate25 is provided which has 33. th raisf .ing. of the gate 25, the opening at the front to. prevent any of the material from being 'i -dle el nd wd a t TOth aBh Q6139 to {'-a1i}extension 38 'secured'fb'y rivets 38 to the v the horizontalp'osition shown Figs; 1 and 2 and, supported inthait position by 'thehori-v I {51%; platforms- 50 fithare adapted tof'bel supported. Each platform is hinged at 50 f on In order 'to enable theholder. 18 to move downwardly, the handle 41 of thelever 40 is operated and bythis, the-tooth pivotshaft andthe front portion'of the holder 18 moves downwardly byforce of: gravity to the position indicated-in .Fig; 1 in dotted-lines. Forsuitably supportin the holder '18, in the position shown in full ines in Fig. 1, the standard 10 is providedwith .an upwardly-extending extensionfldf'f At each side of the defv'ce ,arearrang gular brackets, having. verticalshafts 5l -a'nd to the standard andcan beplacedeither in zontal members v 51F, or they 'Imay l he placed in vertical-position by swinging the brackets inwardly. Bythusfmoving the-horizon itselffisfnot'desired to be used.v

At therea-r; portion of the de'v'ce- 1s: indicat'ed a portion of asupport 6 5 which may be a' part of'atruck-wagon or other oonve f ance"63.,,. 1 .Whichis adapted to-supporta the SupportQO', the "latter being-ain position j z hownfin-Fig, l-ijji'rfull lines. The ,gate'525 beingjolo sed,fthe supportflO is then swung 1 upon its pivot shaft 19- with the part. '20? moving in the directionifoff the arrow 70,.

whereupon-and by mea'n'sof which movea ment',"the contents of the barrel 60 a'renip- -tied intoth'e' holder 18. and byreasonof the I shape of theholderyas shownzi'n'plamview Fig. 2, the contentsof. the] barrel are lspread over theibottom' of the holder .18.

f flhegoods being thus spread,the'y are-sus-j ceptible to' an immediate detailed examinetion andthe entire contents of thebarrel-are thus-subjected to the view of the inspector, Any rotten goods or other of inferior quill ity are thus immediately noticed-and either the entire or a portion of the eontents' of place.

the barrel may be rejected. After the inspection has been completed, the gate is opened. The inspector who isacting for the bu-yerta'kes a position on the platform and manipulates the lever 4:0 by means of holder 18 will causethe forward portion of ward the spout 30and then dropout of the end of the spout 30 either into a sack ated 1 on the standards -l0,"upper. and lowerbear f ,.ings-5 2. The upper bearings areeach se cured to brackets 53-which inturn arese-q cured tolthe in'cline d'portion of thestandard, 10; Swmgmg in "these bearings 52'iaree an- 20 h riZQntaleXtensions 51 arranged'at right angles thereto't]. On, the horizontal portion i-be en'j emptied of its contents, the holder 18 gis'returned into its horizontal position as shown in full lines in Fig. 1 and the gate 25 dis closed. The next barrel is then placed on the support 20 and is then emptied into the =the'handle 41, thus removing the tooth .,fi'.om the lug 36. The uneven balance of the holder 18 and the contents thus spread out are examined, whereupon the holder 18 is "'againjtilted and the contents are precipiltated into the container 61. Of course, after each barrel is emptied into the holder 18, it

is removedfrom the support 20 so as to have I this support 20relieved of the weight of the barrel, I when the tilting operation takes The empty barrel removed from the support 20 is immediately placed 3 beneath the spout 30, and the goods after inspection are therebyreceived back in their original containe'r. The platform 50 serves tosup'port theperson wholisin charge ofthe delivery of the articles t0 the buyer.

In the case of goods in bags instead of barrels, the side-members 20 of the support 20' retain the bag in position. during the emptying thereof into the holder. I

The support 20 has the further advantage of holding'the bagin such a position that "when the support is tilted, the contents of barrel 60 which icontains the. articles to I be v inspected releasing the taiLgate, latch; 1 64, the barrel 60 is/iree to be moved onto the baglwill empty out the bag without being obstructed by the .cqllapseof the upper portion [of the bag. This collapse usually the remaining contents of the bag from being emptied-. The advantage ofthe slats is that-thedirt falls between the slats, and bei ing gathered therebetween, it is not passed- "through 'tjhejspout and into the container.

By this arrangement, the buyer is assured of obtaining only the fruits or vegetables,

and-does'not pay for a considerable portion ."of dirtj Another advantage is that the lverticaladjustnient permits the mproved devicetobe raised or lowered depending upon theheiglit of truck orfreight car, and the "advantage of the rollers 11 is that the devioe maybe readily moved from place.

place to i My improved device has special advantages in enabling the articles to be readily examined,'and any fraud or any possibility of having goods delivered which are not up to the standard may thus be prevented.

I claim:

1., An inspecting device of the characterport the holder in inspecting position, and

an inclined portion for supporting the holder in inclined or tilted position, and releasable means adapted to'pretain the same in non-tilted position upon the said horizontal support, the said support adapted to be.

carried by the weight of the goods'therein into tilted position upon'the said inclined,

support upon release of the said releasable means.

2. An inspecting-g; device of the character described, comprising a tilting holder adapted to receive acertain quantity of goods'to be inspected and to retain the same in spread-out position for inspection, all the goods being simultaneously and individually visible, and a goods container support, having an unobstructed emptying end, pivoted at the entrance end of the said holder and at a stationary point above thebottom of the said holder, the said support being adapted to be tilted into container-emptying posi-' tion into the said holder. 7 I

3. An inspecting. device. of the character described, comprising a tilting holder having a slotted bottom adapted to receive a certainquantity of 'goodsto be inspected and to retain the same in spread-out position for inspection, all the goods being simultaneously and individually visible, a front wall, sidewalls converging toward the discharge end of the holder, a goods support having an unobstructed emptying end pivoted to the upper edge of the rear wall of said holder, the said support being adapted to be tilted into container-emptying position into the said holder, and releasable means retaining the said holder in non-tilted position, the said holder being adapted to be tilted by the weight of the goods therein upon release of the said releasable means.

4. An inspecting device of the character described, comprising a tilting holder having a slotted bottom adapted to receive and retain a certain quantity of goods in spreadout position for inspection, all the goods being simultaneously and individually visible, a front Wall, side walls converging toward the discharge end ofthe holder, a spout at said discharge end of the holder, a gate for said spout, a goods support, having an unobstructed emptying end, pivoted to the upper edge of the said front wall, standards supporting'the holder, a horizontal support carried by said standards adapted to support the holder in inspecting or non-tilted position, an inclined support carried by the said standards adapted to support the said holder in tilted position, and releasable means operable from one of said standards, adapted to retain the said holder in nontilted position, the said holder adapted upon release of the said releasable means to be tilted to rest upon the said inclined support.

-5. An inspecting device of the character described, having a slotted bottom adapted to receive and retain a certain quantity of goods in spread-out position for inspection, all the goods beingsimultaneously and individually visible, a front wall, side walls converging toward the discharge end of the holder, a spout at said discharge end-of the holder a gate for said'spout; a goods suppivoted to the upper edge of said front Wall, said holder being overbalanced at its discharge end by the weight of the goods therein, and a leaf spring hand-lever having a HUGH M. FOSTER.

Witnesses:

F. Hose, 5 Joe. BISBANO.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, D. G." A

port, having an unobstructed emptying end, 

